Famous Akdorian
Brownie. Leafbiter is a somewhat
legendary figure. His activities were as strange as his name. He is considered
the father of the rich storytelling tradition of travelling Brownie Shamans in
Akdor.

He was a bit more... extreme then all other Brownie Shamans. No-one knows
exactly when or where he lived, as each story about him gives a slightly
different account of his origins. Some said he was raised in the shadow of the
mountains, others said he came from over the sea, but all the stories agree that
in listening to the patterns of his voice as he told of things which were, and
things that are hidden, and prophecies of what may be, there was a special sort
of magic that entranced the listener and made him forget the steppe and the
trees and see instead those shapes and shadows that Leafbiter chose to show his
rapt audience.

For well over 200 years he ruled the fireside (or so it is told), staying for a
week, or a month, or just a meal. A weird song would be heard in the distance,
rising and falling to the accompainment of rattled shells. The song would grow
louder, than fainter, in turns, and eventually the owner of the voice would step
in the firelight, immediately launching into a tale involving Brownies of yore,
or Spirits, or men, elves,
dwarves and gnomes,
or occasionally the ever-mysterious First One.
Then Leafbiter would stride confidently to the fire and sit down. Without fail
he would be provided with the best food and drink that the tribe had to offer.
Sooner or later, sated, he would sit back with a sigh, then with flashing eyes
and gesturing hands, the night's storytelling would begin in earnest.

Every tribe in Akdor tells stories of having been visited by Leafbiter. He
always arrived unannounced, and would leave in the same way, leaving his seat at
the fire empty, with no one ever having seen him go. Was he real? The Akdorians
vehemently claim that he was. What of his age? The Akdorians believe that one
day, tiring of telling stories by mortal firesides, Leafbiter wandered off into
the misty spirit world and began to sing to them and tell stories to them, and
that someday he will return again to the steppes of Akdor, showing up once again
by firesides uninvited, and announced only by a song, enthralling all within the
sound of his voice.